


Not knowing how to stop

by CelineStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: And part of the tunnel scene, Angst with a Happy Ending, Follow only the first scene of 6x18, M/M, post 6x17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 17:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12137097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelineStilinski/pseuds/CelineStilinski
Summary: Theo wished he knew how to stop.But like many things in his far too complicated of a life, it wasn't that easy. He caught himself more often than not staring at a square jaw and shaped lips moving animatedly while arguing - mostly with him.He really wished he knew how to stop staring.





	Not knowing how to stop

Theo wished he knew how to stop.

But like many things in his far too complicated of a life, it wasn't that easy. He caught himself more often than not staring at a square jaw and shaped lips moving animatedly while arguing - mostly with him. He really wished he knew how to stop staring like he cared. It wasn't who he was, Theo wasn't a caring person, he never was, neither did he ever want to be.

It wasn't even a good time to start caring - and he didn't, _he didn't_ \- with everything going on, people at every corner wanting to kill them all.

"That's agreeing with Theo." Liam let out, looking in disbelief at his best friend, instantly making Theo shift his eyes to the Beta.

Despite trying to fight this tendency of his to stare at one particular werewolf, here he was again, eyes solely resting on Liam, even when Mason started talking again.

"Yeah, but I thought I'd try to soften it a little bit."

Until the human's paroles finally registered to him, making Theo turn his head to look at Mason in a second, eyebrow slightly raised, straightening up to shift his gaze between the two werewolves and the human.

"Is everyone completely shocked that I might be right?" No one could blame him for the note of hurt appearing in his voice. Sure, he wasn't the most trustful person ever, Theo was the first to admit that, but he wasn't an idiot.

"No, we just don't like it." If Theo was slightly hurt a second before, now, he was pretty sure everyone could smell it - well, everyone supernatural. Liam completely ignored it, passing in front of Theo without so much as a look to reach for the phone left out on the counter. 

It's not like Theo cared if Liam looked at him or not, not at all.

_He did not._

Fortunately, Scott didn't seem to put too much attention in his chemo-signals either. Maybe Theo was only fooling himself with denial, but it didn't mean it would prevent him from continuing to do so.

"Since you two agree..." Scott stated, looking between Theo and Mason. The chimera didn't like where this was going at all, not at all.

You could say whatever you wanted about Scott McCall, he never was the brightest lamp in the room, but alike a lot of teenagers, he sure as hell enjoyed a little drama when he could, to Theo's unfortunate demise.

"You mean me...?" Mason started, a look of pure horror on his face.

"And him?" Finished Theo despite himself, he could almost hear the light rumple of restrained laughter deep inside Liam's chest.

\------------

Liam almost laughed when he heard the slight growl coming from the chimera's chest as he was reluctantly following Mason outside. The beta's eyes followed Theo until he was out of the clinic, before he finally turned to face Scott, ready to ask what they were going to do first, when all he was faced with was Scott frowning fixated on Liam.

"Why do I feel like I did something wrong?" Liam asked lightly, going for the a joking tone he clearly wasn't feeling. If Scott's deeper frown and then raised eyebrows were any answer, it hadn't lighten up the Alpha either.

"What's happening between you and Theo?" Scott asked, fixing his beta who just shrugged his shoulders in answer.

But Scott clearly wasn't giving up - damn True Alpha's will - so Liam let out a long sigh, avoiding Scott's gaze in favor of his worn up shoes.

"Nothing. We fight a lot, that's all." He could even taste the sour taste of his own lie on the tip of his tongue. He didn't have to hear his own heartbeat to know it had skipped a few beats.

"Liam, if Theo did something..." Scott started, cautious, before Liam cut him off, half exasperated, half angry at his Alpha's tendency to jump to conclusion.

"What? No! He didn't do anything!" _Except maybe being a total pain in the ass_.

Why was Scott even asking Liam about what was happening between him and Theo?

Not even _Liam_ fucking knew what the hell was happening between them...

"I don't know, okay?" He finally let out, feeling Scott's eyes scrutinizing him, looking for any clue that what his beta was saying was anything but the truth. Liam opened his mouth to clarify himself, "I -", only to close it a second later, passing a shaky hand through his hair and taking a deep breathe, "I don't know."

He let out a sigh, it clearly wasn't helping his case. He couldn't even clarify himself, _he didn't even know what he could clarify in his 'I don't know'_. He was already imagining the different scenarios going through Scott's head, assuming things from a mile away.

And judging, probably judging.

"Just, can we go back to finding who the hell is behind that message?" He asked softly, shaking the phone clenched in his hand in front of the alpha's eyes.

Scott nodded slightly, and that was it. Liam smiled slightly, glad the conversation was over.

_If there was anyone that wanted to know what was happening between Liam and Theo, it was definitely Liam._

It took them hours without as much as a little lead for Scott and Liam to finally take a break. Liam sat on the examination table, unconsciously playing with the different surgical tools that were laying on the side of it, letting his neurons relax as much as he could, while Scott was calling Malia a few feet away.

He stared at the old phone - what kind of person used that nowadays - that Liam was sure was glaring at him from the counter. He was a doing a lot of that lately... _Starring at things - a person - most likely to frustrate him to no end_. It's not like he was doing it on purpose. He should have agreed with Theo about going after Aaron, just to be in the middle of the action and burn up some steam. This whole thinking thing was getting frustrating. Probably as frustrating as the complete lack of news from the chimera and Mason. Liam got his own phone out of his pocket, checking for any incoming text from his best friend, or even Theo, but the only notifications glaring at him were the dozen of ignored missed calls from his mom.  
If the war didn't kill him, his mom definitely would. Well, she would first check he ate correctly for the weeks he avoided her and his stepfather, she would feed him his favorite food...

Then she'll probably torture him and kill him for ignoring her, and leaving without a word.

He was about to put the device back into his pocket when the screen suddenly lighted up, Mason's name flashing across it. Liam didn't loose a second to answer, finally glad for some action.

"Did you find Aaron?" He asked hurriedly, not letting Mason's the time to be the first to talk.

"No we didn't... But.. I mean, there was this girl, and Theo just... We got a situation. I meant a little girl and I don't know what to do and-" Mason was rambling, making it hard for Liam to follow.

"What?" He asked, interrupting Mason, earning himself a deep and long sigh from his best friend at the other end of the line.

"It wasn't that hard to understand! Just get here, we're in the tunnels, and I don't know how to deal with this."

Liam raised his head to look at Scott, still on the phone with Malia - what they could possibly talk about right this second was a total mystery to Liam - who mouthed him what looked like the words "deal with what", Liam shrugged in answer before asking Mason.

"Deal with what?" The beta almost instantly regretted his words when he was met with a judging silence from his best friend.

"Seriously, Liam? Just, get here. Now." Mason said before hanging up. Liam removed his phone from his ear, staring at his phone in disbelief. Before jumping of the table and pushing the phone in his pocket. He watched Scott still talking with Malia on the phone, no looking like he wanted to hang up anytime soon.

"Scott?" Scott looked up questionably at Liam. "Murderous human hunting us everywhere? I can't go on foot?" Liam reminded him, a look of recognition slowly appearing on Scott's face.

"Oh, right. Uh, yeah. Hey Malia, gotta go, see you later!" He rushed before finally hanging up.

A few minutes later they parked over the tunnels' entry, Liam not bothering to climb down the ladder and just jumping down, smelling the air for Mason's scent. To his surprise, it was Theo's scent he caught first, but it was different, _it smelt weird_ , it smelt... _Hurt_? He didn't wait for Scott, rushing down the tunnels instead, following the chimera's scent.

Liam doesn't think anyone could be prepared for what he witnessed once he arrived in the tunnel where the scent stopped suddenly. Not for this.

Not for _Theo Raeken_ sitting on the dirty ground, _sobbing_ and clutching a little girl in his arms, caressing her hair, whispering the same thing over and over again.

No one could ever be ready for this.

Without hesitating, he was kneeling on the ground in front of Theo, hands hovering, not knowing what to do with them, turning his gaze on Mason a few feet away, seeking for help. But he was looking as helpless as Liam was feeling.

"He's been like that for almost half an hour, I tried to shake him out of it - by that I mean calling his name - before calling you but it wasn't working, and I- I didn't know what else to do." Admitted Mason.

Before Liam could answer, Scott turned the corner of the tunnels, sighing in relief when he noticed Liam.

"Why did you ran off like-" he started, before suddenly interrupting himself when he caught the sight of Theo barely a meter away from Liam. "-that." He finished lamely.

Liam couldn't look away from Theo, from the way he seemed so out of it. It was like it wasn't the little girl he was seeing, but something else. _Someone else._

"Did he kill her?" Asked Scott harshly, and Liam turned his head sharply in the direction of his Alpha. Theo wouldn't do that, it wasn't who he was, it hasn't been since he came back from hell. 

Liam couldn't see Theo even raising a threatening claw in front of a child.

He would never do that.

_Right?_

"No, he didn't" He heard Mason answer from behind him. "She fell and all those disgusting spiders got out of her, and he just took her in his arms but he won't snap out of it."

Liam's heartbeat calmed itself instantly when Scott's expression softened.

"I think it's supernatural." Mason let out.

"What do you mean?" Scott frowned, looking back at Theo that didn't seem to notice or hear any of them.

"I meant, the solution to get him out of it, maybe he needs his anchor? It seems to be psychological."

"I don't see what the hell could be Theo's anchor."

Liam looked down to the chimera, his hands still hesitating to touch him. He could see what was Theo's anchor, or rather who was. He wasn't totally oblivious, of course he noticed all the stares, he had the same ones for Theo. He knew what his meant, his stares, every time he couldn't look away. It was like it used to be with Hayden.

_Theo was his anchor._

Somewhere in that mess, after Hayden left Beacon Hills, it had happened.

And somehow, Liam being Theo's anchor had happened too, probably even before Theo had become his.

It didn't mean he had ever be ready to admit it. Theo probably didn't even know it himself.

So he reached out, posing his hands on Theo's shoulders, not hesitating anymore.

\------------

If Scott's decision to send him and Mason to look out for Aaron wasn't already proof enough Theo was living a bad day, then here he was, a couple hours later, in the tunnels, hands shaking without him being able to control it, staring a the blinding dark end of the tunnel, where Aaron probably was, seeing the fear the human and the chimera were experiencing. He could feel Aaron getting closer and closer from their position, sensing the fear coursing through his veins augmenting without stopping. He could also hear it in Mason's voice, snapping at him how he was far more terrified of turning his back to Theo than he was of Aaron. He couldn't tell what made him close his fingers into a fist, flash his eyes, and slam Mason against the tunnel's walls after he heard the faint sound of feet entering the tunnel. He would love to pretend it was to scare the kid, to give him a reason to be scared of Theo. But somehow, he knew it was to scare him enough so he would run. It clearly didn't work as Mason started screaming how he knew Theo was never on their side.

"Shut up." Theo hissed under his breath, letting his eyes return to normal to jerk his head in the direction of the opposite end of the tunnel.

To the chimera's surprise, Mason immediately shut up, staring at whatever was behind Theo. When he finally turned around, letting go of Mason, it wasn't to see Aaron, but a little girl, with dark brown hair and brown eyes shifting to yellow on irregular intervals, pressing her hands to her chest, her throat, looking like she was suffocating. She couldn't be older than 9.

Theo could feel all his limbs going slack, as the young werewolf murmured a strangled "help me", before falling to the ground, spiders running out of her body. And suddenly Theo wasn't in the tunnels anymore. He was standing on a bridge, dark brown hair floating on water, lifeless brown eyes calling for help.

He heard Mason calling his name, but he didn't remember what really happened next. He didn't come to until he felt familiar hands on his shoulders, then his cheeks, brushing off tears he didn't know were ever there. The next thing he was aware off was his own voice, barely above a whisper, sounding so broken, repeating over and over again "I'm so sorry".

It took him a while longer to realize he was holding the lifeless body of the little girl, and that the familiar hands were moving to his jaw to force him to look up. He didn't, he couldn't look away. _He couldn't_. She looked so much like Tara did back then. 

"Theo?" He let out a louder sob at the sound of the voice, it felt safe and familiar. He couldn't seem to register why, but he was sure the calming hands and the soft voice were paired. He wasn't whispering anymore, he knew as much. But he couldn't let her go. He couldn't let _Tara_ go. No, not Tara. _The little girl_. He couldn't let the little girl go. But why was he holding her if she wasn't Tara? _But she looked so much like Tara._

He caught a scent then. It smelt like soap, like a constant anger.

It smelled like _his anchor_.

"Theo, look at me."

It smelled like _Liam_.

He finally looked up, another, always louder, sob living his lips, finally meeting Liam's gaze. He didn't pay attention to Scott and Mason removing the little girl from his arms, the only thing he could focus on was Liam holding his face between his hands, caressing his cheeks, brushing off tears like _he cared_.

"Focus on me, okay?"

Square jaw, chapped lips. 

Blue eyes.

Theo stared like he cared.

_Because he did. He cared. He cared about Liam. Just Liam._

Theo wished he'll never stop.

"Did you know?" He asked in a barely there whisper. _Did you know you're my anchor? Did you know I cared?_ His eyes were searching Liam's for an answer, for a clue, anything.

"Did you?" Liam answered with a soft smile.

Theo let out a light laugh under his breathe. Of course Liam knew, why did he doubt it.

And Theo knew too.

Liam's smile widened at Theo's whimper when the beta removed his hands from the chimera's jaw, who was already missing the contact. But in the end, Liam pulled him into a hug, Theo freezing for a second before letting himself sink into it, resting his forehead on Liam's shoulder.

"I... Never saw that one coming." Theo heard Mason whisper to Scott somewhere in the background, to which the Alpha answered with a disbelieving scoff sounding like 'me neither', but Theo was far too comfortable and tired to care.

**Author's Note:**

> This is exactly why I shouldn't be listening to music while writing because what was supposed to be humor-ish but it turned angsty-ish without me meaning to... And yeah.
> 
> It was finished like three days ago, but I removed stuffs, got killed by an headache, then went to check my spelling mistakes and ended up adding another 1k word instead. And finally, after checking out most of the terrible spelling mistakes I did,  
> (there's probably so much more, but it would take me like a week to end up checking them, let's be real) here it is.


End file.
